to object to a slim fast soup promotional pack being put in dd's tray at nursery

[pesme]

it is all trendy packaging and says something along the lines of 'yummy soup in your tummy makes you a yummy mummy' barf!

i object to this on so many levels!

1 - exposing dd aged 3 to the diet industry (ok she probably hasn't a clue but this is my high horse)
2 - using my childs tray as a marketing device.
3 - the phrase yummy mummy
4 - slim fast is evil.

Pesme, I'd be FURIOUS. Complain.

that is really, really dark

I am not easily shocked but that has turned my stomach.

Patty, with the greatest respect, kindly take your pretty little head out of your arse and think about what you are doing here! You are a willing party to something crass, irresponsible and downright immoral.

I object to the way that childcare places need the money, not that they use marketing to help.

Seems to me that if one is sent promotional packs, then they ought to be kept for the next jumble sale. Some people really want SlimFast stuff, so sell it to them for a couple of quid.

Oh thank god, the comic relief's arrived.

No. I'ld be furious.

and the whole "yummy mummy" media/advertising concept always makes me want to hurl!

lol

Pesme... do go in... & ask if they give them out to all the mothers... I'm sure they did though. I know this would offend me, as I do have a bit of weight to lose [but am a sw member ] but it would also really offend my sister who is a size 6 & has battled anorexia. They just don't think, do they.

Greensleeves that was a pretty unkind attack on Patty. She wasn't saying that she is in favour of what has happened, just explaining how the packets came to arrive at their nursery. It sounds as if the nursey (where she works) made a compromise by putting them in a box for people to help themselves too if they wanted it. I'm sure there are many mumsnetters who do use Slimfast (or similar) who were glad of the freebies.

I think I prefer the idea of just leaving them in a box labelled freebies for people to get if they want them - along with any form of freebies nurseries get.

Don't like the idea of them being given out to every child.

Greensleeves - that comment to Patty was put of order; she gave a viewpoint which is as valid as everyone elses and did not deserve a verbal attack like that. Disappointing

Disappointing?

rofl

Yes, 'fraid so. Disappointing as I thought it was unnecessary. Lots of pther people before patty actually said they didn't mind or they ignored it and put it int he bin, but you didn't chose them to verbally attack. Just think it is mean to single out one person and abuse them in that way.

Why are slimfast targetting nurseries? Seems a bit of a weird marketing strategy.

No, I singled her out because a) she works in a nursery and had the opportunity to make the right decision, which IMO she didn't, b) she said it was a shame to throw the stuff away, which I can't see as an argument for allowing nursery children to be used as marketing tools, and c) she finished up her weak-kneed justification of her decision by saying five-year-olds weren't likely to pick up on diet-industry advertising thrust under their noses, which is both untrue and irrelevant. So I'll stand by my post, thanks.

Still spluttering at "disappointed" though. How many years out of the staff room is it now, Hula?

I can't see that a 3 year old would know what the packet was. I agree that it is a bit annoying to get it, but not something I would be furious about tbh.

I just think you were being mean 'tis all.

Yeah there was no need for that. I thought her point was actually very valid in this thread as she was giving the objective opinion. Also she is on the same side as everyone else - she doesnt like it but she gets sent them!

If a letter comes through your front door, and you open it up, and its a slimfast soup sachet - take your pretty head out of your pretty arse and think about how you open your mail.. as thats all she did.

Sorry I just dont like people (especially new people) being bullied.

I would be very angry about this.

I also don't think much of the "poor ickle nursery-wursery needs the money" line either.

Or perhaps the arms industry would like to sponsor painting hopscotch lines in playgrounds? That'd be OK too, would it?

And I would probably write to Slimfast to express my disgust with their shoddy and cynical marketing and cc my local paper.

But I get the red mist.

I do know where Greeny's coming from. It's Patty's unthinking 'obedience' that bothers me - we've received them, ergo we 'have' to give them out somehow. (And with Slim-Fast products, tbh I don't think 'throwing them away is wasteful' is a valid reason). And I suppose the companies who send out this stuff speculate on staff finding it easier to hand it out once they've received it.
Quite apart from the offensive nature of the product itself, I do not believe an educational esablishment should be assisting a commercial enterprise with its marketing.

I don't think you can compare slimfast with the arms industry

wouldn't give a monkeys

yes, mothers are a target market for diet products

if you don't want it you can bin it

it's not like they're feeding it to the kids - we're grown ups and we can make our own decisions

I'd object to it on principle. Bloody insulting, if nothing else.

What puzzles me is, if nurseries aren't paid to hand this stuff out, why on earth do they do it? I did read Patty's post (and it was useful to have her POV) but still don't get why the staff would go the effort of distributing marketing material for free. Nursery staff should be busy looking after the children, managers should be managing and adminstrators administrating. Why waste time doing something on behalf of another company, which can well afford to employ its own people to hand out free samples, if it wants to?

When ds was in nursery, we used to get the odd bit of promotional material, but it was all child-related, so it didn't bother me. But this would make me ask questions...

All Patty did was pass on the choice to the parents - she nannies the kids not the adults fgs!

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